Industry News

The Industry news section helps keep you informed and up to date about what’s happening in the dental profession. If you would like to share information in this section, please email your news releases to natalie@dentaltownuk.com. All material is subject to editing and space availability.

Initial Medical and BADN to Undertake Needlestick Safety Survey of Dental Nurses
Clinical waste and needlestick safety experts Initial Medical are running an online survey alongside the British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN). This survey will look into the incidence of needlestick injuries amongst dental nurses working in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

The research is designed to gain insight into needlestick practices and injury levels of dental nurses, so that training and sharps safety provision can be effectively tailored.

Jane Dalgarno, President of the British Association of Dental Nurses, comments:

“This is a follow up to our 2014 survey to see if, three years on, the Safer Sharps Regulations have made any difference to the number of needlestick injuries being suffered. In the 2014 survey* just over half (51%) of the 1,216 respondents reported that they had received a needlestick injury, with 60% of these having had more than one needlestick injury at work, and 11% having had a needlestick injury within the last year.”

Although it may be a small number of healthcare workers that develop potentially life-threatening diseases as a result of a sharps injury, it’s still worrying. The survey will ask questions like whether dental nurses have ever had a needlestick injury, how many they have had, how they obtained them and how they were handled. Rebecca Allen, category manager for Initial Medical, says: “Needlestick safety is a very important issue for the whole dental team. Handling sharps is part of your every day routine as a dental nurse, so it is easy to become complacent. However, when you consider the risk of infection following a needlestick injury is estimated to be 1 in 3 for HBV, 1 in 30 for HCV and 1 in 300 for HIV**, it is vital that best practice and the Health & Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 are complied with.”

BADN is encouraging all dental nurses to take part in the survey, which can be found here.

The results will be published in the “British Dental Nurses’ Journal” and on the BADN and Initial Medical websites later in the year.

For further information please visit www.initalmedical.co.uk or Tel: 0870 850 4045.

Invisalign Go System “Gaining Traction”
The Align Technology team claims that their news Invisalign Go system is gaining a lot of interest.

Invisalign’s latest offering is an aesthetic teeth straightening product created specifically to target general dental practitioners. Their new and simplified approach to teeth straightening takes GDPs through steps. They will identify, plan and monitor aesthetic cases. The steps will enable them to use Invisalign to treat patients with confidence straight away.

Align Technology is working on this system with Dr Raman Aulakh and Dr Barry Buckley. Drs Aulakh and Buckley are highly respected names in Invisalign training and will be aiding GDPs new to this system.

The feedback from initial GDP’s who have experienced the system are positive. The initial sessions have allowed them to carry out treatment on patients immediately using their newfound skills. They have also been able to enjoy continued support and mentoring in the ensuing months, which adds to their confidence and their skill set. Feedback includes:

“The way it helped build my confidence and jump straight in to treating with Invisalign”

“The best thing about the training is getting introduced to the amazing Invisalign and the support we can get”

“I can get started straight away”

“A fabulous & entertaining course, brilliantly led by Raman Aulakh. He puts enjoyment back into learning. The course was full of encouragement. Wondering why I didn’t do it sooner!”

Align Technology are holding multiple training courses across the country. If you’re interested in booking visit www.invisalign-go.co.uk.

New Chief Executive for the BDIA
Current BDIA Chief Executive will be stepping down from his position on April 10th after 20 years of service.

Tony Reed has been the BDIA Chief Executive for two decades. He has previously enjoyed a career in Trade Association management. During his employment at the BDIA Tony Reed has been a key player in developing close working relationships with many of the professional bodies associated with dentistry. He has also worked to raise the profile of the BDIA and its members within the UK and Europe. Tony Reed said:

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the BDIA and have overseen many changes in the industry over the last two decades. I am privileged to have met and worked with so many great characters in the dental community over the years”.

He is stepping down and making way for a new Chief Executive. The role will now be taken up by Edmund Proffitt. Edmund Proffitt has a total of 29 years of trade association management experience covering policy and lobbying, communications, marketing, technical, exhibitions, training, company secretarial and membership matters. Appointed by the BDIA, he will be leaving behind his old role of Policy & Public Affairs Director to take on this new role. Speaking on his appointment he said:

“I am honoured and delighted to be taking up this position. There are many challenges facing BDIA members over the next few years, as well as some great opportunities. I look forward to working with the BDIA Council and members to ensure that the sector is prepared and can prosper going forwards”.

Despite stepping down as Executive Director, Tony Reed will remain fully involved with the BDIA financially for the foreseeable future. BDIA President, Mike Cann commented on Edmund Proffitt’s appointment, saying:

“Edmund has played a key role in growing the Association’s influence and presence over the last four years and we are confident that he is the right choice to follow in Tony’s footsteps leading the BDIA”.

Teeth Team Get 137K Investment from Simplyhealth.
CopyThe award winning child oral health programme, Teeth Team, has gained a massive investment from Simplyhealth.

Teeth Teeth began in Hull to improve the oral health of children in socially deprived communities. The have been enjoying success with their programme and have a recorded a reduction of 19.8% in local children experiencing dental extractions under general anaesthetic. A survey on 5 year olds in Hull, which was carried out by Public Health England Survey (DPH), also recorded an improvement from 43.4% to 37.8%.

Speaking about the investment, Chris Groombridge, Chair of Trustees for Teeth Team, said:

“We are absolutely delighted to receive this momentous support and investment from Simplyhealth to our charity. To be working in partnership on this level means that moving forward we can expand the programme into scores of new schools in other areas of need and continue to make a real different in child oral health.”

The investment from Simplyhealth will allow Teeth Team to continue with its work and roll out its programme to 50 additional schools in 2017. Simplyhealth professionals will also be actively involved in the growth of Teeth Team by delivering the programme as it expands across the country.

Simplyhealth made a pledge to donate 10% of pre-tax profits to charitable causes in 2017. They believe that Teeth Team’s programme provides ‘hard evidence’ that demonstrates the effectiveness of the ‘prevention’ approach to better oral health amongst the five- to nine-year-old age group. They also hope that they can eventually use accumulated evidence to lobby the government into diverting a percentage of the savings realised by Teeth Team for the NHS to help fund further expansion of the project to other areas and schools.

Director of Dental Policy at Simplyhealth Professionals, Henry Clover, said:

“We are incredibly excited about being involved with Teeth Team. Simplyhealth Professionals is ideally placed to provide practical, proactive support through our member dentists, some of whom will have the opportunity to visit these schools and help children understand the importance of preventive oral health care through the Teeth Team programme.”

New CS R4+ and DEPPA Integration
Carestream Dental now facilitates integration between its CS R4+ practice management software and the innovative Denplan / PreViser Patient Assessment (DEPPA) tool.

Denplan practices will be able to start DEPPA examinations from the clinical screens in R4+. This will mean they won’t require a separate log in, giving them a maximum level of convenience in their practice. Patient records will be automatically updated, or new files created for new Denplan patients.

When patients complete the DEPPA questions on the Carestream Dental electronic signature pad, their answers will also be automatically populated in their Denplan files, ensuring a streamlined workflow for the practice and an efficient patient experience.

Henry Clover, Chief Dental Officer at Denplan, comments:

“DEPPA is a highly effective, individualised patient risk assessment and communication tool. The integration with the CS R4+ software allows for surgery time to be optimised. It supports utilisation of the innovative DEPPA tool, maximising efficiency and creating more time for discussion with patients.

“I think the capability of the software to automatically pre-populate certain DEPPA fields is very clever and this will be particularly useful for clinicians.

If you require more information on the integration of the CS R4+ and Deppa, you can contact Carestream Dental on 0800 169 9692 or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk.

New Device Detects Untreated Bacteria in Root Canals
A new device can detect untreated bacteria during root canal treatments, potentially eradicating the need for follow up appointments and preventing treatments from failing.

According to a study published today in the Journal of Dental Research, the SafeRoot device created by a team of researchers at King’s College London enables rapid bacterial detection inside the root canal. This ensures the procedure has been successful and reduces the need for tooth extraction or surgical intervention.

 The SafeRoot device was created to detect any existing bacteria once the root canal treatment has been completed, with the aim of eliminating persistent or secondary infections and reducing the need for further treatments.

Through florescent dyes and fluorescence microscopy / spectroscopy, SafeRoot can optically detect minute amounts of residual live bacteria in the root canal space. During trials the team were able to successfully detect bacterial cells after just three minutes of testing.

Using conventional sterile endodontic paper points the process is performed during the treatment, preventing any impact on clinical treatment time and minimising additional clinical steps. Professor of Endodontics from the Dental Institute at King’s College London, Francesco Mannocci, said”

“The resilient nature of bacteria combined with often complex root canal structures makes disinfection challenging, leading to a considerable number of persistent infections. This is one of the main causes of root canal treatment failures”

One million root canal treatments are conducted under the NHS each year, costing the General Dental Service £50.5 million. Lead researcher, Dr Frederic Festy from the Dental Institute at King’s College London said:

“The treatments are not only time consuming and painful for the patients, but cost the NHS a significant amount. If we can reduce the number of root canal treatments and re-treatments required, it could mean sizeable savings to the NHS.”

Funding for this project was received from the EPSRC CASE Studentship and the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.